Mystical Fighter is a one-of-a-kind Kabuki-themed console-only brawler. Its gameplay is similar to Final Fight but with dashing and screen-clearing stock-based magic attacks.

Rival Turf! is the first game in Jaleco’s SNES-only Rushing Beat trilogy. It’s a fairly blatant Final Fight rip-off that’s notable for being one of the first SNES brawlers with two player gameplay. It separates itself from its source material with a button dedicated to running, kill-based death-blows, and Ikari Mode, which is a brief period of invincibility and increased strength right before you’re about to die.

Sailor Moon Pretty Soldier is a two-player brawler that’s loosely based on the arcade game of the same name. It stars your five favorite female defenders of Earth. It plays a lot like Final Fight but adds charged projectiles and screen-clearing special attacks.

Sailor Moon Pretty Soldier R is the second SNES Sailor Moon brawler. It improves upon its predecessor across the board with bigger sprites, catchier music, and more attacks. It also adds a mode where you can play as Sailor Chibi Moon, who’s nearly invincible because she’s too short for most enemies to hit.

Shin Nekketsu Kouha: Kunio-Tachi no Banka is the final Kunio brawler released for the Super Famicom. It’s a pseudo-sequel to River City Ransom with similar combat and plenty of dialogue. However, you gain new attacks at set points in the game rather than collecting money and paying for them. Also, you can fight as Kunio and Riki’s girlfriends, and switch between them at will.

Shodai Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun is the first Kunio game released for the Super Famicom. Like River City Ransom before it, it’s a two player open world RPG/brawler hybrid. However, unlike RCR, you level up by gaining experience rather than collecting money and buying upgrades at shops.

Shui Hu Feng Yun Zhuan is an unlicensed Chinese brawler set in medieval China. It’s a Knights of the Round rip-off with Golden Axe-style magic attacks. It has high quality gameplay and aesthetics despite its plagiarism.

Sonic Blast Man is a groundbreaking single player SNES-exclusive brawler. Its gameplay emphasizes stunning enemies by knocking them down to critical health and keeping them onscreen so you can unleash a powerful Tornado Throw. Its steep challenge is defined by powerful enemies that demand mastery of brawler fundamentals to defeat. Its graphics feature gigantic sprites and several Mode 7 effects. Its ultra-catchy soundtrack is composed by Taito’s legendary house band, Zuntata.

Sonic Blast Man II is the sequel to Taito’s original SNES brawler. The combat has been changed completely: they removed the directional throws, punching minigames, and stun-based gameplay and added multiple attack buttons, dashing, and an evasive maneuver. It’s also a two player game with three selectable fighters.

Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage is a single-player brawler featuring your two favorite web-slinging Marvel characters. You start off as Spider-Man but you can choose to play as Venom at certain parts of the story. It plays like Final Fight but adds web-based moves and a unique accuracy-based power attack.

Spider-Man and Venom: Separation Anxiety is the sequel to Maximum Carnage. It plays exactly like its predecessor (and has the same enemies) but this time around it’s a two player game. It still has the elements the series is known for such as web-based projectiles and accuracy-based power attacks.

Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage is a brawler based on Marvel’s popular comic franchise. Its gameplay is similar to Final Fight but it adds web-slinging attacks and unique accuracy-based specials. You can play as Spider-Man or Venom and both have their own unique stages. It also has a metal soundtrack by the band Green Jello.

Spider-Man and Venom: Separation Anxiety is the sequel to Maximum Carnage featuring new stages, bosses, and two-player co-op gameplay. Besides that it’s extremely similar to the first game but lacks the Green Jelly soundtrack.

Splatterhouse 3 is a horror-themed brawler from Namco that’s notable for its grotesque monster designs and extreme gore. It features branching paths and timer-based gameplay as well as digitized cutscenes.

Stone Protectors is a two player brawler from Kemco based on what are basically the Ninja Turtles version of Trolls. It features five characters, surprisingly high-quality graphics, and absurdly large movesets. In addition to multiple attack buttons including weapon attacks, each Protector has multiple throws, aerials, and even death-blows.

Streets of Rage is Sega’s flagship brawler franchise for the Genesis. Created as a direct competitor to Final Fight on the SNES, it established the gold standard for console beat ’em ups with its simple gameplay, configurable challenge, legendary OST, and lagless two-player simultaneous action.

Streets of Rage 2 is widely considered to be the best console brawler ever created. It improves upon its predecessor across the board with deeper combat, more diverse characters, elaborate multi-part stages, and an even greater challenge. Its soundtrack is the stuff of legend.

Streets of Rage 3 is the explosive final chapter to Sega’s outstanding console brawler franchise. It improves upon Streets 2 with star-based dash attacks, vertical rolling, rechargeable specials, semi-branching stages, tons of new enemies, and much faster gameplay. It also features a controversial new soundtrack based on underground Detroit techno. The US version was severely neutered with an altered story, removed content, and baffling color-swaps so this page will focus on Bare Knuckle III, the original Japanese release.

Super Chinese World 2 is the sequel to Culture Brain’s Super Ninja Boy. Like its predecessor, it’s a brawler/RPG hybrid where you walk around an open world, talking to people, buying items, and solving quests. When you engage in combat, the game becomes a brawler where you gain experience at the end of the battle and level up.

Super Chinese World 3 is the final chapter in Culture Brain’s RPG/brawler hybrid series. Like its predecessors, it features an open RPG world where you travel around a map, stopping in towns to talk to people and buy things. When you encounter monsters, the game switches to a brawler. This game adds multiple party members that can be switched out before a battle to the formula.

Super Double Dragon is the one and only DD game released for the SNES. It deepens the combat of its predecessors by adding a block move that becomes a grab when executed successfully as well as a charged energy bar that enables advanced techniques. It’s a two-player game, and the only Double Dragon where Billy and Jimmy aren’t color-swaps of one another. Unfortunately, it was rushed to release so it’s a little rough around the edges.

Super Ninja Boy is the sequel to Little Ninja Brothers on the NES. It’s a two-player RPG/brawler hybrid where you explore an open world, visiting shops and talking to townsfolk. When you enter combat, the game switches to a brawler where you gain experience and level up at the end.

Takeda Shingen for the PC Engine is a re-worked port of Jaleco’s samurai-themed arcade brawler. It’s an entirely new game with different enemies, stages, and bosses. It also introduces light RPG elements such as conversing with NPCs and gaining experience points from defeating enemies to level up.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time is the final chapter in Konami’s fantastic TMNT brawler series, and a port of the arcade game. This time the Heroes in a Half-Shell get sent back in time by Shredder and have to fight their way through history and even into the future. Like its predecessors, it features accessible, casual gameplay and vehicle segments, now in glorious Mode 7.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Hyperstone Heist is the only Genesis brawler from Konami. It reuses assets from Turtles in Time but changes up the combat with a dedicated run button and adds new stages, anemies, and bosses.